Weekend Preview: Looking for ladies? Get lit!

Guys, this just in: If you are looking to pick up chicks, forget the Camaro, the Gucci suit and the new trainer. Heck, you don’t even need the old standby, a puppy. Books are the new puppy.

That’s sort of the point of the Reading Is Sexy happy hour on Tuesday at the Fort Lauderdale Dubliner (210 SW Second St.). The witty event (the invite includes the image of Marilyn Monroe reading Arthur Miller, at left) is hosted by Gold Coast Magazine’s Nila Do and Exposed PR’s Sara Shake — and if you want to ruminate on the Dickensian elegance of the ladies’ surnames, well you just go ahead.

The happy hour is a 5-7 p.m. fundraiser for the kids’ Summer Reading program put on by the Broward Public Library Foundation, and it may also offer an opportunity to meet someone with similar interests over a cocktail. The $10 admission gets you a free drink, appetizers and live music from -kids-, who specialize in indie rock and frustrating punctuation.

BLOCK OF BEERHow excited were we to see that World of Beer’s Craft Beer Carnival on Saturday will include face-painting and cotton candy? Upon further review, however, it has been explained to us that those features are being offered for kids. This free-admission, third-anniversary block party at the Coconut Creek WOB (4437 Lyons Road) is attractive, nonetheless: From noon to 2 a.m., you’ll find games, giveaways, raffles (perhaps you’ll win free beer for a year or a guitar from Guitar Center) and live entertainment from the Baron Sisters, Frequency, Social Fly, Morgan La Rue's Shimmy Shake Revue (below) and DJ Lindersmash. The whole shebang, sponsored by Magic Hat and Fresh Beer Inc., benefits the good folks at Young Professionals for Covenant House. Info: 954- 984-0300, WOBUSA.com, Facebook.com/YPFCH.

ERIC THE GREATDelray Beach rapper Eric Biddines, notable for thoughtful and eloquent dispatches from his own private South Florida that defy many cliches about the region and rap, performs new music at an album-release party for “planetcoffeebean2” on Saturday at Propaganda (6 S. J St., Lake Worth). Everyone in the audience gets a free, signed copy of the album, and the first 30 in the door get a bag of Biddines swag. Admission: $10, $15 after 10 p.m. Info: 561-547-7273, PropagandaLW.com, Facebook.com/EricBiddines.

MORE SOUTH FLORIDA STORIESThe Short Straw Pickers offer energtic appreciations of the more languorous side of life in South Florida and rural hills and dales of their dreams, expressed in a sound they call “jamboogiebluegrassicana.” You may call it delightfully nostalgic, pure and poetic, and a knee-slapping good time. SSP, also known as Jack Schueler, Billy Gilmore, Jeff Adkins and Brian Purwin, will offer new music during a release party for their long-anticipated debut album, “Upon That Hill,” at 9 p.m. Saturday, at the Funky Biscuit (303 S. Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton). Uproot Hootenanny and Fat Mannequin are also on the bill. Admission: $10, and everyone gets a free copy of the album. Info: 561-395-2929, FunkyBiscuit.com.

SHE'S CRAFTYReminder, the Indie Craft Bazaar makes a welcome return to Revolution Live (100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale) on Saturday. From noon to 5 p.m., this pop-up mall of mystery will gather more than 60 local artists offering handmade fashion, jewelry and assorted craftiness. A free DIY tie-dye booth (bring a T-shirt or buy one there) will allow guests to get extra colorful, and there’s a cash bar ($3 mimosas a specialty) and the always popular baked goods. The $5 admission gets you a raffle ticket, with a portion of the proceeds supporting the Flagler Community Garden. Info: 954-785-7475, IndieCraftBazaar@gmail.com, GetUpAndCraft.com.

LET'S MEATWe have no problem with the Burger Beast hosting the big hot dog celebration at Tobacco Road on Saturday. I mean, if burgerists and hot-doggians can get along, we feel better about prospects for peace in this unsettled world. Besides, in this case, “hot dog” seems to be a euphemism for favorite hand-held, stand-up summer eating, with the Road’s second annual Hot Dog Eating Contest including food trucks such as ArepaBox, Churro Mania, Fireman Derek’s World Famous Pies, Jefe’s Original Fish Taco and Burgers, Monster Burgers, Pescados Unidos, Top Fries and Waffleosophy. Admission is free. The event runs from 3 to 9 p.m. Tobacco Road is at 626 S. Miami Ave., Miami. Info: 305-374-1198, Tobacco-Road.com.

NEW YORK STORYWho can’t relate to the underemployed and underloved title character played by Greta Gerwig in “Frances Ha,” the quixotic journey of a 20-something adrift in New York from Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale,” “Greenberg”)? Cinema Paradiso (503 SE Sixth Ave., Fort Lauderdale) will show it at 8 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:15 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $10, $8 seniors/students, $6 members. Info: 954-525-3456, FLIFF.com.

LIVING FOR THE WEEKNDThe Weeknd, nom de musique of critically lauded 23-year-old Canadian performer-producer Abel Tesfaye, is touring in support of the new album “Kiss Land,” and bound for a Sept. 28 concert at the James L. Knight Center in Miami. It is at that show that we may learn the inspiration for his curious shout-out to “Fort Lauderdale and MIA” in the title track, a dark portrait of a life filled with drugs, booze and strippers. Tickets cost $37 and $47, and go on sale 10 a.m. Friday at LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster outlets and the box office (400 SE Second Ave., Miami; 305-416-5970). More info: TheWeeknd.com.

COENHEADS UNITEPut this on your calendar next week: The wild-and-woolly Coen brothers comedy “The Big Lebowski” is the featured film at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday during the Art Cinema at the Crest film series in the regal Crest Theatre on Old School Square (51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach). Tickets: $8. Info: 561-243-7922, DelrayCenterfortheArts.org.

OLDER SISTERSwing Out Sister (the famously banged Corinne Drewery and Andy Connell) produced one of the defining pop songs of the late ‘80s with “Breakout” (just reading the title will put its bouncy melody in the head of certain readers for the rest of the day), but their hearts were never far from a jazzier groove. Hear what they’ve been up to when SOS plays a two-night gig at Jazziz Nightlife (201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton). Shows are 7 and 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets: $55-$85. Info: 561-300-0730, JazzizNightlife.com.